magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for searching programs recorded on magnetic tape

ABSTRACT

A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus having a capability of allowing contents of records on a magnetic tape to be discriminatively identified and a capability for displaying closed caption includes a tape map memory for storing contents recorded on a tape and a tape map controller. As a manual input facility, a tape map button, a caption button, a play-back button, a stop button and others are provided. Upon loading of a tape undergone recording(s), the tape map button is pushed to display on a monitor screen tape map information concerning the contents of program(s) recorded on the loaded tape, temporal duration(s) of the program(s), and history of play-back of the tape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a magnetic recording andreproducing apparatus (also known as a video tape recorder or VTR forshort). More particularly, the invention is concerned with a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus which is imparted with capabilities ofeasily discriminating or identifying a cassette tape as loaded,searching a desired program recorded thereon, indexing heading portionsof programs, displaying caption or teletext and so forth by making useof information signals such as a character signal (teletext signal),control signals, etc. which are superposed on a video signal.

2. Description of Related Art

Broadcast service with a video signal superposed with informationsignals relevant thereto has already been put into practice and known asthe television text or teletext broadcasting. In particular, in U.S.A,it has statutorily been recommended or enforced as of 1993 that thetelevision receiver be equipped with a decoder facility capable ofdisplaying conversations exchanged during development of programs,announcements, messages and the like information in the form of captionsgenerated on a display screen so that those who are hard to hear orsuffer a hearing loss can equally enjoy the service. In thisconjunction, IC decoders designed to this end are manufactured andactually marketed by many semiconductor device manufactures.Incidentally, usage of the decoders for the television receivers arediscussed in detail in a Japanese periodical "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS" No.537, (Sep. 30, 1991), pp. 149-158.

Parenthetically, the inventors of the present application have alsoproposed a technique for encoding the information signal received in atelevision text broadcast (teletext broadcast). For particulars,reference may be made to the specification of Japanese PatentApplication No. 119539/1993 (JP-A-5-119539).

Besides, Japanese Patent Application No. 96115/1993 (corresponding toJP-A-6-309848) assigned to the same assignee as that of the presentapplication discloses an apparatus for displaying on a monitor screenthe information concerning situation of recordings on a magnetic tapeusually encased within a cassette for the purpose of facilitating thesearch or indexing of a heading portion of a program recorded on thetape. More specifically, a memory or storage device for storinginformation data is incorporated in the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus, while recording date/time and a time code are recorded on themagnetic tape as the tape identification information in a verticalblanking interval of a video signal for a program. Upon play-back of themagnetic tape, the tape identification information is utilized indisplaying en bloc the contents of records on the tape in the form of alist by referencing the information stored in the memory.

At this juncture, it should be mentioned in conjunction with themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus disclosed in the specificationof Japanese Patent Application No. 96115/1993 (JP-A-6-309848) thatalthough the recording date/time and the time code are proposed to beused as the tape identification information written during the verticalblanking intervals of the video signal, no consideration is paidconcerning the play-back of a tape on which programs have been recordedby using other magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus. Consequently,upon play-back of the tape recorded by the other magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus, there arises a possibility that thetape may erroneously be recognized as having been recorded by themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus in which the tape is currentlyloaded. Besides, specific circuits are additionally required forencoding/decoding the time codes, giving rise to a problem that themanufacturing cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the light of the state of the art described above, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus which can facilitate search of programs recorded on a magnetictape, indexing of heading portion of the programs and display ofteletext or closed caption and the like without essentially incurringadditional manufacturing cost of the apparatus.

In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, it is proposed according to a general aspect ofthe invention to record tape identification/management informationsignal in the vertical blanking interval of a video signal in a sameformat as that adopted in the teletext broadcasting. Owing to sucharrangement, the problem of high manufacturing cost mentioned previouslyin conjunction with the related art can successfully be solved.

According to another aspect of the invention, it is proposed to use asthe tape identification information a manufacture number (hereinafterreferred to as the VTR manufacture number) of the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus which was used for recording programs onthe tape. By virtue of this, the aforementioned problem of erroneousrecognition of the tape can satisfactorily be coped with.

In a preferred mode for carrying out the invention, attributeinformation of programs recorded on a cassette tape is stored in alibrary memory. Upon loading of the tape in the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the invention, the programinformation inclusive of the attribute information is displayed on amonitor screen in the form of a list. Thus, manipulation of the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus involved in recording and/or reproducingoperation can be much facilitated and simplified.

The above and other objects, features and attendant advantages of thepresent invention will more easily be understood by reading thefollowing description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken, onlyby way of example, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the course of the description which follows, reference is made to thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing schematically an internal structure ofa magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of an encodercircuit incorporated in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is waveform diagram for illustrating signals and informationsignals recorded in a vertical blanking interval of a video signal;

FIG. 3B is a waveform diagram showing a format in which the informationsignals are recorded;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are schematic diagrams for illustrating contents of theinformation signals written during the vertical blanking intervals;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a library memoryused in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a view showing, by way of example only, tape map informationdisplayed on a screen of a monitor;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for illustrating a procedure for controlling atape heading portion search or indexing operation;

FIG. 8 is a functional flow chart for illustrating a program headingportion indexing operation together with information displays asgenerated on a monitor screen;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for illustrating a control procedure forautomatically managing programs already enjoyed and those not yetenjoyed;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for illustrating a control procedure forregistering a program of a length greater than a predetermined value ina library memory; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for illustrating a procedure for changing over atape map display and a caption display.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, the present invention will be described in detail in conjunctionwith what is presently considered as preferred or typical embodimentsthereof by reference to the drawings. In the following description, likereference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

FIG. 1 shows in a block diagram an internal structure of a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

In a recording mode, a record signal (i.e., signal to be recorded) isinputted from a tuner 1 of a television receiver or from an externalvideo source by way of an corresponding input terminal 110 to bemodulated by a video signal processing circuit 2 for recording on amagnetic tape 111. In that case, information signals such as thoseillustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIGS. 4A to 4C are written invertical blanking intervals of the video signal by an encoder circuit 3.More specifically, all the information written in a vertical blankinginterval 31 (conventionally referred to also as the V-blanking interval)of the video signal is illustrated in FIG. 3A. As can be seen in thefigure, a teletext (i.e., television text broadcasting) informationsignal 32 is superposed at a horizontal synchronizing pulse position 21H(21st line), while a tape map information signal 33 is superposed at thea horizontal synchronizing pulse position 19H (19-th line). Referring toFIG. 3B, the tape map information signal 33 is composed of a burstsignal 33a, a clock signal (CLK) 33b and data (DATA) 33c. As an exampleof the data 33c, a start code is shown in FIG. 3B. The tape mapinformation signal 33 is written at the 19-th line or 19H (where Hrepresents the horizontal synchronizing pulse and thus "19H" representsthe 19-th horizontal synchronizing pulse position) in each of thevertical blanking periods located immediately before the individualframes "1", "2", . . . , of the video signal, as shown in FIGS. 4A to4C. As the tape map information to be written, there can be mentioned astart code (of 16 bits) written immediately before the frame "1", VTRmanufacture number data (of 24 bits) written in the vertical blankinginterval immediately before the frame "2" and a preceding half portionof the vertical blanking interval immediately before the frame "3", acurrently loaded tape ID number (of 8 bits) written in a succeeding halfof the vertical blanking interval before the frame "3", a serial tapenumber (of 8 bits) written in a preceding half of the vertical blankinginterval immediately before the frame "4" and tape species information(of 8 bits) written in a succeeding half of the vertical blankinginterval before the frame "4". In the vertical blanking intervalspreceding to the succeeding frames "5", "6", . . . , "11", respectively,there are written data such as illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C. Since onedata consists of two bytes or 16 bits, the tape map data as writtenamounts to 22 bytes (where one byte equals eight bits) in total. Thedata of 22 bytes are written in the vertical blanking intervals of thevideo signal in secession till the end of the recording. Of the data tobe written, the start code data, the VTR manufacture number data, thecurrently loaded tape ID number data, the serial tape number data andthe tape species data are prepared in a library memory 4. Further, dataof receiving channel of the tuner 1, current date/time data generated bya timepiece circuit 13, residual tape data calculated on the basis ofoutput of a reel sensor 16 which is adapted to detect rotations of areel support 17a and bilingual/stereo mode data generated by a soundmultiplex decoder 18 are supplied to a tape map controller 5 as the datato be written in such a number as illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C. Thesedata are written in the vertical blanking intervals of the video signal,as mentioned above, through the encoder circuit 3 under the control ofthe tape map controller 5.

In a play-back mode, the tape map information recorded on the tape inthe manner described above is read out to be decoded by the decodercircuit 6 to be subsequently supplied to the tape map controller 5 forchecking whether the VTR manufacture number, the currently loaded tapeID number and the serial tape number match with those stored in thelibrary memory 4, respectively.

In response to a display request for the tape map information as issuedfrom a manual input device 14, the contents of the library memory 4 aresent to a display circuit 7 via a video output terminal 112 forgenerating a display of a picture 40 illustrated, only by way ofexample, in FIG. 6 on a monitor screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of the library memory 4. In thisconjunction, it is assumed that the contents of the memory 4 includethree kinds of information, i.e., management information 26, tape listinformation 27 and a program list 28.

The management information 26 is composed of a VTR manufacture number ofthe magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus now of concern, a leadingpointer, a trailing pointer, an empty memory capacity of an empty list,a leading pointer of tape list information and a serial tape number ofthe currently loaded tape. The VTR manufacture number is used fordetermining whether a tape as loaded in the recording/reproducingapparatus is the tape processed by the same apparatus (i.e., whetherboth the recording and the play-back are effected by the same VTR). Theempty list pointer indicates an address where the data such as mentionedabove are to be stored in the library memory 4 upon recording of a newprogram. Further, owing to the information concerning the empty orunoccupied memory capacity, it is possible to generate an alarm when thememory becomes full. The serial tape number is automatically updated bya counter upon deletion of the tape from the library for preventingduplication of the tape identifying number.

The tape list information 27 contains management data for each volume ofthe tape. This management data includes a pointer indicating location ofa succeeding tape list information, the currently loaded tape ID number,the serial tape number, the tape species and the application as the IDdata for identifying the tape, the number of all the programs asrecorded on the tape and a pointer indicating an address of a programlist. The tape species data represent tape species such as "T-60","T-120", "T-140", "T-160" or the like. By using this tape speciesinformation, it is rendered unnecessary to discriminate the cassettetape every time it is loaded. The automatic cassette tape discriminationor identification requires one full rotation of the reel support. Bystoring the above-mentioned information in the memory, such a display asillustrated in FIG. 6 is generated immediately after the loading of thecassette tape, whereby time information concerning a residual time ofthe tape (i.e., time corresponding to the length of tape remaining to beused) can be displayed at an area 633 labeled "BLANK" together with aband graph 634, description of which will be made later on.

The program list 28 is destined to store the data for each of programsas recorded. This program list 28 contains a pointer indicating alocation of a succeeding program, data indicating positions of programsrecorded on the tape, data of recording date/time and channel, dataindicating the state of the tape "enjoyed", "not yet enjoyed" and"preserve" for each of the programs and sound mode data indicating"bilingual" and "stereo mode". On the basis of these data, the tape mapdisplay such as illustrated in FIG. 6 is displayed on a monitor screenby using characters and/or graphics indicating on a line-by-line basisthe states or situations in which each of the programs has beenrecorded.

Now, let's assume, by way of example, that a picture 40 illustrated inFIG. 6 is displayed on the monitor screen upon loading of a cassettetape. In this case, it is indicated that the tape as loaded is in thestand-by state with the introduction or heading portion of a program "3"being positioned ready for start of the play-back operation, asindicated by a reference numeral 634-3.

A reference numeral 629 designates a guide display field for the tapemap. A symbolized key 630 as displayed indicates that the program ofconcern is to be preserved. A reference numeral 631 designates a cursordisplay generated for indicating a selected program. In practicalapplication, characters indicating information for the selected programis displayed in red against the background color of green with thenon-selected programs being displayed in black against the background ofgreen. Finally, a reference numeral 634 designates a band graph showingthe information of all the programs recorded on the loaded tape, whereinnumerals as inserted in the band path indicate the corresponding programidentification numbers, respectively.

In this conjunction, it is assumed that the display circuit 7 shown inFIG. 1 is so designed as to generate background colors on acharacter-by-character basis. More specifically, both the backgroundcolor for the character data displayed in black in the cursor display631 as selected and the background color for the character datadisplayed in black in the area 634-3 of the band graph 634 as selectedare displayed in red. In this way, by making the background color forthe cursor area coincide with the background color for the selectedportion of the band graph as displayed, visual recognition or visibilityof the displayed information can remarkably be improved.

A symbol designated by Z and appearing at an upper left corner of thepreserved program 630 symbolizes a key in the locked state. Thus, thegraphic symbol "key" designated by Z indicates that the relevant programis inhibited from the overlay or overwrite recording so that the programof concern is protected against inadvertent erasure. On the other hand,a symbol designated by X displayed at lower left corner of a selectedprogram display line 630 symbolizes eyes in the closed state. Thisindicates that the relevant program 631 has not been watched or enjoyedyet. Further, a mark Y displayed at an upper left corner of a succeedingprogram symbolically represents eyes in the opened state, indicatingthat the program 632 has already been watched. Finally, a bottom graphband 633 displays a residual time corresponding to a length of the taperemaining to be recorded. Starting from the display state mentionedabove, it is possible to trigger a desired operation of the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus by searching a heading portion of adesired program by pushing selectively a play button, a stop button or arecord button.

Now, referring to a flow chart of FIG. 7, a control procedure will beexplained.

In a step S10, a preliminary play-back operation is automaticallycarried out for about one second to thereby read out the tape mapinformation or data which is recorded in the vertical blanking intervalsof a video signal, as described hereinbefore by reference to FIG. 4.

In a step S11, it is checked whether the VTR manufacture number data asfetched from the tape coincides with the VTR manufacture number storedin the library memory 4 shown in FIG. 1. Unless coincidence is found,this control processing is terminated by regarding the tape as loaded isnot the one of concern.

In a step S12, the tape list information and the program listinformation are read out from the library memory 4 shown in FIG. 1.

In a step S13, the information or data as read out from the librarymemory 4 are supplied to the display circuit 7 to be displayed as apicture 40 on the monitor screen in such a manner as illustrated in FIG.6.

In a step S14, buttons 151 and 152 shown in FIG. 8 are pushed to movethe cursor for selecting a program.

In a step S15, a play button for reproduction or a recording button or astop button is pushed.

In a step S16, the tape is fast forwarded (quick fed) or rewound towardthe heading portion of the program from the current tape position.

In a step S17, it is checked whether the tape has reached a positionwhich precedes to the destination by five minutes or so.

In a step S18, a VISS (VHS Index Search System) signal detection mode isset up, whereon the tape feeding speed is correspondingly controlled.

In a step S19, operation commanded by the button pushed in the step S15is triggered in response to detection of the VISS signal.

At this juncture, it should be mentioned that during the fast forwarding(quick feeding) or rewinding operation for the program search, a displaywhich indicates definitely that the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus is in the program searching mode is displayed in order toimprove manipulatability of the apparatus. This will be described belowin some detail.

FIG. 8 is a functional flow chart for illustrating monitor screendisplays generated during a program search operation.

It is assumed that the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus underconsideration is equipped with a manual input device 14 of suchconfiguration as shown in FIG. 8, by way of example only. Morespecifically, in the manual input device 14, a reference numeral 141denotes a tape map button and a numeral 142 denotes a caption button.Further, a numeral 143 denotes a play button for reproduction, 145denotes a stop button, 146 denotes a record preservation command button,147 denotes a record button, 148 denotes an automatic record button, 155denotes a fast forward button, and a reference numeral 156 denotes arewind button.

When the tape map button 141 of the manual input device 14 is pushed,the tape map picture 40 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the monitorscreen. In this state, the background color of the line for the programNo. 3 and that of the corresponding area 634-3 in the band graph 634 arechanged, which indicates that the tape is currently in the stand-bystate at the heading portion position of the program No. 3. By pushingagain the tape map button 141, starting from this state, it is possibleto play back the program No. 3.

In FIG. 8, reference numerals 151 and 152 denote cursor moving buttons,respectively. By manipulating these cursor buttons 151 and 152, it ispossible to move the cursor region displayed in red upwardly ordownwardly by changing the background color for the character datadisplayed in black in the tape map picture from green to red.

Thus, by moving the cursor to the position of the program No. 2 andpushing the play button 143 for reproduction, an information picture 60(FIG. 8) is displayed on the monitor screen. This information picture 60contains a graphics/character string messaging that the program No. 2 isbeing searched. In other words, a running graphics (rabbits)/characterstring C₁ indicates that the tape is currently running toward a positionready for the play-back operation. Owing to the display of the runninggraphics/character string C₁, it can visually be confirmed that themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is currently in the programsearch mode.

Upon completion of the heading portion indexing operation for theprogram No. 2, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus isautomatically shifted to the play-back mode, and hence the play-back ofthe program No. 2 is started.

By moving the cursor to the position of the program No. 2 and pushingthe stop button 145, a guide picture 62 is displayed. This picture 62contains a graphics (rabbit)/character string informing that the programNo. 2 is being searched. In other words, a running graphics/characterstring C₁ runs toward a destination at which the tape is to be stopped.Owing to the display of such running graphics/character string C₁, itcan visually be confirmed that the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus is currently in the program search mode for the play-back orstop.

Upon completion of the heading portion indexing operation for theprogram No. 2, the running state of the graphics/character string C₁ isstopped, indicating that the program search operation comes to an end.Subsequently, the tape map button 141 may be pushed to start theplay-back operation of the program No. 2.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for illustrating a control procedure forgeneration of a mark display indicating that a program has been enjoyedor watched.

Referring to the figure, in a step S30, a program list corresponding toa program being played back is read out from the library memory 4 shownin FIG. 1.

In a step S31, length data of the program is read out from the programlist by the tape map controller 5. This length is represented by L.

In a step S32, duration of time consumed or lapsed in the play-backoperation is cumulatively counted by the system controller 9. This timelapse is represented by T.

In a step S33, it is checked whether or not the time T is greater thanthe length L/2 in the equivalent sense.

In a step S34, data "enjoyed" is entered in the program list by the tapemap controller 5, when it is decided in the step S33 that T>L/2.

On the other hand, when decision is made in the step S33 that T≦L/2, itis checked whether the recording date/time data written on the tapecoincides with the corresponding data in the program list in a step S35.Upon occurrence of discrepancy, the cumulated reproduction time T isreset in a step S36.

In this way, the data or mark "enjoyed" can be set up equally in thecase where a program has continuously be played back over more than ahalf. Of course, the same mark data may arbitrarily be set up in thecase where a program has been played back over two thirds or four fifthsof the whole length of the tape.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for illustrating an additional registrationprocedure for the program list in the recording mode of the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus.

In a step S50, packet data of the tape map information such as shown inFIG. 4 is generated by the tape map controller 5 simultaneously with thestart of the recording operation.

In a step S51, tape position data indicating the current tape positionis arithmetically determined on the basis of the input data suppliedfrom the reel sensor 16 shown in FIG. 1 to be subsequently placed in thetape map information.

Further, in a step S52, the information supplied from the soundmultiplex decoder 18 is placed in the tape map information as well.

In a step S53, cumulated recording time is determined.

In a step S54, the cumulated recording time is checked in response toactuation of the stop button.

Only when it is found in a step S55 that the cumulated recording timeamounts to five minutes or more, the tape map information is written inthe library memory 4 in a step S56. In this manner, the library memory 4is prevented from becoming full with records of short durations.

As described hereinbefore, in the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus according to the present invention, the tape map data iswritten in the same format as that for the television text or teletextbroadcasting. Accordingly, by changing over the decoding position of thedecoder circuit from the position 19H for the tape map information tothe position 21H for the teletext, the caption display can easily berealized by making use of the television text (teletext) broadcasting.FIG. 11 is a flow chart for illustrating schematically a change-overprocedure to this end. Referring to the figure, the tape map button 141and the caption button 142 are incorporated in the manual input device14, as described hereinbefore, in conjunction with FIG. 8. When the tapemap button 141 is pushed, this event is messaged to the tape mapcontroller 5 by way of the system controller 9 shown in FIG. 1. Inresponse, the tape map controller 5 sets a decoding position determiningcircuit 21 incorporated in the decoder circuit 6 and shown in FIG. 2 tothe position 19H. On the other hand, in response to the actuation of thecaption button 142 shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, the tape map controller 5sets the decoding position determining circuit 21 to the position 21H.In the decoder circuit 6 shown in FIG. 2, a horizontal synchronizingpulse counter 22 counts the horizontal synchronizing pulses outputtedfrom a synchronizing separator circuit 8. When the counted value attainsthe preset value, the decoding position determining circuit 21 actuatesa clock generating circuit 24 for causing it to generate a clock signalfor sampling the tape map information data carried by the video signalinputted from the video signal processing circuit 2 shown in FIG. 1. Thetape map information contained in the video signal is inputted to a dataslicer 20. A shirt register 23 fetches the output of the data slicer 20in response to the clock signal mentioned above. The data fetched by theshift register 23 is transferred to a data register 25 every time thedata amounts to 16 bits. The output of the data register 25 istransferred to the tape map controller 5 shown in FIG. 1 to be therebyread out by the controller 5, whereupon the processing describedhereinbefore is executed for the set position 19H, while for the setposition 21H, the data read out is supplied to the display circuit 7 tobe superimposed as ASCII (American Standard Code for Information onInterchange) text data on a picture displayed on a television screen, asexemplified by a picture 50 shown at a bottom in FIG. 11.

Now, processing procedure for realizing the caption display functionwill be described in conjunction with the decoder circuit 6 shown inFIG. 2. When the caption button 142 shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 is pushed,this event is fetched by the system controller 9 from the manual inputdevice 14 to be sent to the tape map controller 5. In response, the tapemap controller 5 sets the decoding position determining circuit 21 shownin FIG. 2 to the position 21H. This circuit 21 is constituted by aninternal register of the decoder circuit 6 for decoding the captioninformation signal at the position 21H in every vertical blankinginterval. More specifically, the decoder circuit 6 compares the contentor count value of the horizontal synchronizing pulse counter 22 with thevalue representing the position 21H. When the comparison results incoincidence, the clock generating circuit 24 generates the data samplingclock signal.

The shift register 23 shifts bit by bit the data digitized by the dataslicer 20 in response to the above-mentioned clock signal. After sixteenshifts in total, the content of the shift register 23 is transferred tothe data register 25. The tape map controller 5 shown in FIG. 1 readsout this 16-bit data from the data register 25 shown in FIG. 2. At thisjuncture, it should be mentioned that, in the caption superimpose mode,the 16-bit data is composed of two bytes each of seven bits added with aparity bit. These bytes are discriminatively identified as charactercodes and control codes, respectively. The control codes serve forimplementing the functions for designating a position or positions atwhich characters are to be displayed, colors for display, font ofcharacters and others. The tape map controller 5 shown in FIG. 1 altersthe content of an internal register of the display circuit 7 inaccordance with the control codes to thereby replace the character codesas received by the character data which are used for display in themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, wherein the character data arestored in a display memory incorporated in the display circuit 7. Inthis way, the caption display such as exemplified by the picture 50shown in FIG. 11 can be generated.

In general, the display position for the caption is determined by thedisplay position designation control data inserted at the side of abroadcasting station. However, it is possible to display the caption ata fixed position by neglecting the display position designation datainserted by the broadcasting station. In that case, when a Japanesecaption to be superimposed in a picture is used in addition to anEnglish caption, both the captions can simultaneously be displayed onthe monitor or television screen without being superposed onto eachother.

As another application of the present invention, there may be mentionedan automatic selecting function for selecting the sound multiplex modeupon reproduction of a tape. For reception of the sound multiplexbroadcasting, it is possible to automatically identify whether the soundmultiplex mode is for a bilingual broadcasting or a stereo broadcasting.However, such discriminative identification has heretofore beenimpossible once programs as broadcasted was recorded by the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus. By contrast, according to the teachingsof the invention, it is possible to automatically identify the stereomode or the bilingual mode by writing the sound multiplex mode data inthe vertical blanking interval upon recording of the correspondingprogram on the tape and reading out the same data in the play-back modeto thereby control the sound signal processing circuit.

Turning back to FIGS. 4A to 4C, there is shown the data to be recordedin the vertical blanking interval 19H of the video signal, wherein theBIL (bilingual) mode information or sound multiplex mode information isrecorded at the two bits b152 and b153 in vertical blanking intervalpreceding to the frame "10". Upon recording, the system controller 9shown in FIG. 1 receives from the sound multiplex decoder 18 the soundmultiplex mode information indicating whether a program as received isbeing broadcasted with main/sub-lingual signals or with stereo signal orwith a monaural signal. This information is then supplied to the tapemap controller 5. In response, the tape map controller 5 generates datasuch as illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C on the basis of both informationmentioned just above and other tape map information. The data thusgenerated is supplied to the encoder circuit 3 shown in FIG. 1 to berecorded in superposition on other tape map information in the verticalblanking interval 19H of the video signal.

On the other hand, in the play-back operation, the data mentioned aboveis read out by the decoder circuit 6 to be sent to the tape mapcontroller 5. In response, the tape map controller 5 extracts the BILinformation from the furnished data to supply to the system controller 9a sound multiplex mode identifying signal indicating whether the programbeing reproduced is accompanied with the main/sub-lingual signal orstereo/monaural signal. Upon reception, the system controller 9 sets asound signal processing circuit 19 to one of the audio output modes L(left), R (right), L.R and L+R. In this way, the program can bereproduced with a same sound mode as that monitored in the recordingoperation.

As a further application of the present invention, there may bementioned a so-called automatic timer recording. In general, some oftelevision programs are broadcasted in continuation on a week-by-weekbasis. (Suppose, by way of example, a program ending with a mark "to becontinued to next week".) For recording such program, it will beconvenient to record a same series of programs on a same cassette tape.This can be achieved by recording a program of concern on a cassettetape loaded in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus on a sameday of the week, at a same program start time and in a same channel asthe proceeding program belonging to the same series.

As described hereinbefore by reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C, the data mapinformation is written in the vertical blanking intervals of the videosignal. Of the data map information, the data of remaining tape lengthat the start of recording operation, the current residual tape data, themonth data, the day data, the day-of-the week data, the time and minuteat which the recording is started, the channel for the recording and therecording modes (standard, triple speed) are not basically indispensablein realizing the tape map function. These data are used for recoveringthe contents of the library memory when it is destroyed for some reasonor for automation of the timer recording. Upon loading of a cassettetape in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, it is possible toobtain the data concerning the date of recording, day of the week,program start time and minute, channel of concern, recording mode and soforth by reading out the data mentioned above from the loaded cassettetape.

The date for recording can be generated by deriving the current date andthe current day of the week from the timepiece function incorporated inthe magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and adding the differencefrom the day of the week for recording to the current date.Subsequently, the tape loaded in the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus is fast forwarded to the trailing part of the program from thecurrent position. Detection of the trailing portion can be realized bydetecting a blank portion resulting from erasure by the erasing head. Bysubtracting the residual tape length at the trailing portion from theresidual tape length at the recording start point, the length of therecorded program can be determined. By adding the recorded programlength to the start time/minute of the same series program to berecorded, the time and the minute at which the program is ended can bedetermined. These data, i.e., data of the recording date, day of theweek, program start time/minute, program end time/minute, recordingchannel and the recording mode can be set in a timer reserving memory 15shown in FIG. 1. The succeeding processing are substantially same as inthe case of conventional time-reserve recording.

In case the residual tape length at the blank tape portion is shorterthan the tape length equivalent to the program length, the tape isrewound to the beginning thereof. When the cassette tape is taken outfrom the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, the data mentionedpreviously are deleted from the timer reserving memory 15. In this way,once a certain program is recorded, programs belonging to a same seriesas the former and broadcast periodically in succession on a week-by-weekbasis can be recorded in conjunction to the program recorded inprecedence.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to the presentinvention, a teletext decoder can be used for decoding the data mapinformation recorded in the vertical blanking intervals of the videosignal. Thus, the decoder can easily be implemented inexpensively.Besides, the problem of erroneous tape identification can successfullybe solved by using the VTR manufacture identification number.Additionally, by displaying the tape map information on a monitorscreen, manipulatability in searching a desired program can be improved.Furthermore, the library memory for storing tape map information can beutilized with very high efficiency. Moreover, discriminative informationsuch as "ENJOYED", "NOT ENJOYED YET" or the like can be displayed on themonitor screen. Still more, the sound multiplex mode in the programrecording can automatically be reestablished in the play-back operation.Furthermore, a program belonging to a same series as a preceding programrecorded on a cassette tape can automatically be identified in respectto the day of the week, the time/minute and the channel simply byloading the cassette tape in the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus. It should further be mentioned that a caption displayfunction can additionally be made available without need for changingthe circuit configuration.

We claim:
 1. A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for recordingand reproducing a video signal and an information signal on and from amagnetic tape, comprising:first means for encoding an information signalincluding a magnetic tape identification information signal having anidentification number unique to said magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus and an attribute information signal relevant to a video signalto be recorded on said magnetic tape in a same format as a teletextinformation signal of a television text broadcast to be displayed in theform of a caption on a television screen, and superposing saidinformation signal on said video signal in vertical blanking intervalsat a position differing from a horizontal synchronizing position atwhich said teletext information signal is superposed and recording theencoded information signal of said video signal and said informationsignal on said magnetic tape; second means for storing said informationsignal in storage means upon recording said video signal and saidinformation signal on said magnetic tape; third means for decoding saidinformation signal superposed on said video signal upon reproductionthereof from said magnetic tape by changing the horizontal synchronizingposition for decoding said teletext information signal; fourth means fordiscriminatively identifying whether an inserted tape is one having hadsaid information signal recorded thereon by said magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus by determining whether saididentification number contained in said information signal as decodedcoincides with the corresponding identification number stored in saidstorage means; and fifth means responsive to coincidence of saididentification numbers for thereby outputting to a television displayscreen at least a part of said attribute information signal contained insaid information signal stored in said storage means and correspondingto the magnetic tape to be played back.
 2. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said thirdmeans includes selecting means for selecting exchangeably saidinformation signal or said teletext information signal; furthercomprising:sixth means for displaying said teletext information signalas a caption on a television screen, upon selection of teletextinformation signal by said selecting means.
 3. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a videosignal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal including amagnetic tape identification information signal having an identificationnumber unique to said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and anattribute information signal relevant to a video signal to be recordedon said magnetic tape by superposing said information signal on saidvideo signal in vertical blanking intervals of said video signal andrecording the encoded information signal of said video signal and saidinformation signal on a magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for decodingsaid information signal superposed on said video signal uponreproduction thereof from said magnetic tape; fourth means fordiscriminatively identifying whether an inserted tape is one having hadsaid information signal recorded thereon by said magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus by determining whether saididentification number contained in said information signal as decodedcoincides with the corresponding identification number stored in saidstorage means; and fifth means responsive to coincidence of saididentification numbers for thereby outputting to a television displayscreen at least a part of said attribute information signal contained insaid information signal stored in said storage means and correspondingto the magnetic tape to be played back.
 4. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a videosignal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal including amagnetic tape identification information signal having an identificationnumber unique to said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and anattribute information signal relevant to a video signal to be recordedon said magnetic tape in a same format as a teletext information signalof a television text broadcast to be displaced in the form of a captionon a television screen and superposing said information signal on saidvideo signal in vertical blanking intervals of said video signal at aposition differing from a horizontal synchronizing position at whichsaid teletext information signal is superposed and recording the encodedinformation signal of said video signal and said information signal on amagnetic tape; second means for storing said information signal instorage means upon recording said video signal and said informationsignal on said magnetic tape; third means for decoding said informationsignal superposed on said video signal upon reproduction thereof fromsaid magnetic tape by changing a horizontal synchronizing position fordecoding said teletext information signal; fourth means fordiscriminatively identifying whether an inserted tape is one having hadsaid information signal recorded thereon by said magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus by determining whether saididentification number contained in said information signal as decodedcoincides with the corresponding identification number stored in saidstorage means; and fifth means responsive to coincidence of saididentification numbers for thereby outputting to a television displayscreen at least a part of said attribute information signal contained insaid information signal stored in said storage means and correspondingto the magnetic tape to be played back.
 5. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a videosignal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal containing amagnetic tape identifying information signal having an identificationnumber unique to said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and anattribute information signal relevant to a video signal to be recordedon said magnetic tape by superposing said information signal onto saidvideo signal in vertical blanking intervals and recording said encodedinformation on said magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playingback said magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposedon said video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifyingwhether an inserted tape is one having had said information signalrecorded thereon by said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus bydetermining whether said identification number contained in said decodedinformation signal coincides with the corresponding identificationnumber stored in said storage means; fifth means responsive tocoincidence of said identification numbers for outputting said attributeinformation signal corresponding to a plurality of programs recorded onsaid magnetic tape to be played back onto a television screen to bedisplayed in lines on a program-by-program basis; and sixth means forselecting a program displayed in a particular one of said lines fromthose displayed on said television screen in lines, respectively.
 6. Amagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing avideo signal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal containing amagnetic tape identifying information signal and an attributeinformation signal relevant to a video signal to be recorded on saidmagnetic tape by superposing said information signal onto said videosignal in vertical blanking intervals and recording said encodedinformation on said magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playingback said magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposedon said video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifyingwhether said magnetic tape identification information signal containedin said decoded information signal coincides with the correspondingmagnetic tape identification information signal stored in said storagemeans; fifth means responsive to coincidence of said magnetic tapeidentification information signal for outputting said attributeinformation signal corresponding to a plurality of programs recorded onsaid magnetic tape to be played back onto a television screen to bedisplayed in lines on a program-by-program basis; sixth means forselecting a program displayed in a particular one of said lines fromthose displayed on said television screen in lines, respectively;seventh means for counting a recording time on a program-by-programbasis upon recording said video signal and said information signal onsaid magnetic tape; and eighth means responsive to lapse of saidrecording time by a predetermined time for thereby adding a firstidentification signal indicative of said lapse to said informationsignal to be stored in said storage means.
 7. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a videosignal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal containing amagnetic tape identifying information signal and an attributeinformation signal relevant to a video signal to be recorded on saidmagnetic tape by superposing said information signal onto said videosignal in vertical blanking intervals and recording said encodedinformation on said magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playingback said magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposedon said video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifyingwhether said magnetic tape identification information signal containedin said decoded information signal coincides with the correspondingmagnetic tape identification information signal stored in said storagemeans; fifth means responsive to coincidence of said magnetic tapeidentification information signal for outputting said attributeinformation signal corresponding to a plurality of programs recorded onsaid magnetic tape to be played back onto a television screen to bedisplayed in lines on a program-by-program basis; sixth means forselecting a program displayed in a particular one of said lines fromthose displayed on said television screen in lines, respectively;seventh means for counting a recording time on a program-by-programbasis upon recording said video signal and said information signal onsaid magnetic tape; eighth means responsive to lapse of said recordingtime by a predetermined time for thereby adding a first identificationsignal indicative of said lapse to said information signal to be storedin said storage means; and ninth means for displaying said firstidentification signal and/or said second identification signal in theform of symbols line by line for every program displayed on thetelevision screen; wherein upon reproduction of said video signal andsaid information signal for a given program from said magnetic tape atleast for a duration corresponding to a predetermined proportion of saidrecording time of said given program, said eighth means rewrites saidfirst identification signal only for said program into a secondidentification signal to be stored in said storage means.
 8. A magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a videosignal, a sound signal and an information signal on and from a magnetictape, comprising:first means for encoding an information signalcontaining a magnetic tape identifying information signal having anidentification number unique to said magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus, an attribute information signal relevant to a video signal tobe recorded on said magnetic tape and a sound identifying signal fordiscriminatively identifying whether said sound signal is in a bilingualmode or in a stereophonic mode by superposing said information signalonto said video signal in vertical blanking intervals of said videosignal and recording said encoded information together with said soundsignal on said magnetic tape; second means for storing said informationsignal in storage means upon recording said video signal and saidinformation signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playing backsaid magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposed onsaid video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifying whetheran inserted tape is one having had said information signal recordedthereon by said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus by determiningwhether said identification number contained in the decoded informationsignal coincides with the corresponding identification number stored insaid storage means; and fifth means responsive to coincidence of saididentification numbers and for checking said sound identification signalcontained in said information signal stored in said storage means tothereby change over a sound reproduction circuit for reproducing saidsound signal either to a bilingual sound mode or to a stereophonic modein dependence on content of said sound identification signal.
 9. Amagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing avideo signal and an information signal on and from a magnetic tape,comprising:first means for encoding an information signal including amagnetic tape identification information signal including an apparatusidentification number which is unique to said magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus and an attribute information signalrelevant to a video signal to be recorded on said magnetic tape in asame format as a teletext information signal of a television textbroadcast to be displayed in the form of a caption on a televisionscreen, and superposing said information signal on said video signal invertical blanking intervals and recording the encoded information signalof said video signal and said information signal on said magnetic tape;second means for storing said information signal in storage means uponrecording said video signal and said information signal on said magnetictape; third means for decoding said information signal superposed onsaid video signal upon reproduction thereof from an inserted magnetictape by changing the horizontal synchronizing position for decoding saidteletext information signal; fourth means for discriminativelyidentifying whether an inserted tape is one having had said informationsignal recorded thereon by said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusby determining whether said apparatus identification number contained insaid information signal as obtained and decoded from said magnetic tapecoincides with a corresponding apparatus identification number stored insaid storage means; and fifth means responsive to coincidence of saidapparatus identification numbers as discriminated by said fourth meansfor thereby outputting to a television display screen at least a part ofsaid attribute information signal contained in said information signalstored in said storage means and corresponding to the magnetic tape tobe played back.
 10. A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus forrecording and reproducing a video signal and an information signal onand from a magnetic tape, comprising:first means for encoding aninformation signal containing a magnetic tape identifying informationsignal having an identification number unique to said magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus and an attribute information signalrelevant to a video signal to be recorded on said magnetic tape bysuperposing said information signal onto said video signal in verticalblanking intervals and recording said encoded information on saidmagnetic tape; second means for storing said information signal instorage means upon recording said video signal and said informationsignal on said magnetic tape; third means for playing back said magnetictape and decoding said information signal superposed on said videosignal; fourth means for discriminatively identifying whether aninserted tape is one having had said information signal recorded thereonby said magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus by determining whethersaid identification number contained in said decoded information signalcoincides with the corresponding identification number stored in saidstorage means; fifth means responsive to coincidence of saididentification numbers for thereby displaying said attribute informationsignals which correspond to a plurality of programs recorded on saidmagnetic tape to be played back and which are contained in saidinformation signal stored in said storage means on a television screenin the form of lines, respectively, on a program-by-program basis whiledisplaying program identifiers of said plurality of programs in the formof a band graph; sixth means for selecting a given one from thosedisplayed in lines and said band graph on said television screen; andseventh means for setting a same color as background colors for saidselected program display line and said selected area of said band graph,respectively.
 11. A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus forrecording and reproducing a video signal and an information signal onand from a magnetic tape, comprising:first means for encoding aninformation signal containing a magnetic tape identifying informationsignal and an attribute information signal relevant to a video signal tobe recorded on said magnetic tape by superposing said information signalonto said video signal in vertical blanking intervals and recording saidencoded information on said magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playingback said magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposedon said video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifyingwhether said magnetic tape identification information signal containedin said decoded information signal coincides with the correspondingmagnetic tape identification information signal stored in said storagemeans; fifth means responsive to coincidence of said magnetic tapeidentification information signal for thereby displaying said attributeinformation signals which correspond to a plurality of programs recordedon said magnetic tape to be played back and which are contained in saidinformation signal stored in said storage means on a screen display;sixth means for selecting a program from said screen display andentering play-back or stop which acts to play-back or stop from/at thebeginning of the selected program after searching the program, whereinsaid play-back and stop entering means works as an immediate play-backor stop operation when said screen display is not currently displayed.12. A magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for recording andreproducing a video signal and an information signal on and from amagnetic tape, comprising:first means for encoding an information signalcontaining a magnetic tape identifying information signal and anattribute information signal relevant to a video signal to be recordedon said magnetic tape by superposing said information signal onto saidvideo signal in vertical blanking intervals and recording said encodedinformation on said magnetic tape; second means for storing saidinformation signal in storage means upon recording said video signal andsaid information signal on said magnetic tape; third means for playingback said magnetic tape and decoding said information signal superposedon said video signal; fourth means for discriminatively identifyingwhether said magnetic tape identification information signal containedin said decoded information signal coincides with the correspondingmagnetic tape identification information signal stored in said storagemeans; fifth means responsive to coincidence of said magnetic tapeidentification information signal for thereby displaying said attributeinformation signals which correspond to a plurality of programs recordedon said magnetic tape to be played back and which are contained in saidinformation signal stored in said storage means on a display screen;sixth means for selecting a program from said screen display andentering play-back or stop, wherein entering of play-back is firstfollowed by a heading portion indexing operation and then automaticplay-back, and entering of stop is first followed by the heading portionindexing operation and then automatic stop.